▲ Retired U.S. Lt. Gen. John Daniel Caine, U.S. President Donald Trump's nominee to be the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testifies before a Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on April 1, 2025, in this photo released by Reuters. (Yonhap)

US general nominee-N Korea

Top U.S. general nominee calls N. Korea 'immediate security challenge,' backs trilateral cooperation with Japan

By Song Sang-ho

WASHINGTON, April 1 (Yonhap) -- U.S. President Donald Trump's pick for the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman described North Korea's nuclear and missile programs as an "immediate security challenge" on Tuesday, while supporting trilateral security cooperation among the United States, South Korea and Japan.

During a Senate confirmation hearing, retired Lt. Gen. John Daniel Caine made the remarks, stressing that America faces an "unprecedented, rising global risk" as he pointed to potential adversaries of North Korea, China, Russia and Iran.

"North Korea's long-range missile and nuclear programs represent an immediate security challenge," he said in an advance written statement to the Senate Armed Services Committee. "If confirmed, I will assess the U.S. military presence in Japan and South Korea and make recommendations to the SecDef and POTUS."

SecDef and POTUS stand for the secretary of defense and the president of the U.S., respectively.

He was responding to a question regarding the potential impact of significant reductions to the U.S. force posture in South Korea and Japan on the security situation in the Indo-Pacific region.

Caine threw his support behind trilateral security cooperation among Washington, Seoul and Tokyo, which has been deepening in recent years in the face of North Korea's persistent nuclear threats and China's increasing assertiveness.

"I support the Trilateral Security Cooperation Framework and, if confirmed, will continue to advocate for using the Trilateral Security Cooperation Framework as a blueprint for military cooperation in exercises like Freedom Edge and operationally through efforts such as our trilateral missile data warning sharing mechanism," he said.

Last July, the defense chiefs of the three countries signed the framework in what was viewed as a move to formalize their tripartite security collaboration.

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